"Walking off the court knowing you are a world champion, and knowing that no one can ever take that away from you. That memory goes to the top. But also just being able to compete in this league and enjoy some success."

The first Trail Blazers player to have his number retired, Lloyd Neal, ironically was never about numbers or statistics during his seven seasons with the team.

"It's a team game -- you are never going to win a title saying 'I got X-amount of points, and X-amount of rebounds,'" Neal said. "That means you are concerned more about the individual than the team."

A rugged and physical player, Neal was known for defense and rebounding, all while playing through injuries and accepting ever-changing roles. He was a power forward by nature, but with the frequent injuries to Bill Walton, he often was forced to play center, even though at 6-foot-7 he was always undersized.

"Lloyd Neal was one of the most reliable players I've ever coached, and physically he was the toughest," Jack Ramsay said. "He was a guy who rarely made a mistake, always did his job and always accepted his role on the team. He was great."

Neal said he succeeded at guarding the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Lainer by relying on fundamentals and by convincing himself he could do it.

"You never give up," Neal said. "You don't worry about how big they are. And the way I looked at it, they had to play me just as much as I had to play them."

Neal was a third-round pick out of Tennessee State in 1972 and as a rookie averaged 13.4 points and 11.8 rebounds, finishing second to Bob McAdoo in rookie of the year voting.

Just before the Blazers' championship season in 1976-77, Neal had left knee surgery, and he never fully recovered. He was limited to 58 games, but Ramsay said his attitude and effort in accepting a position behind newly acquired Maurice Lucas played a huge role that season.

"That season we had seven new players on the team, and Lloyd was one of five holdovers," Ramsay said. "He had been a starter, and he was very good -- widely acknowledged around the league as one of the better players at power forward. So when we got Luke (Maurice Lucas), he accepted a role of coming off the bench, which a lot of players would have resisted. And he did a great job."

His contributions were immeasurable, but not unrecognized. In March of 1979, the team retired his No. 36, the first Blazers jersey to hang from the rafters.

He says every time he visits the Rose Garden he can't help but look at his banner.

"I didn't think about it a lot at the time, but as the years went on and I was able to look back on my career and my accomplishments, I realized that the organization bestowed a great honor on me," Neal said.

Neal, 59, still lives in Portland, where for the past 27 years he has worked for the Department of Treasury in the collection division of the Internal Revenue Service. Next January, Neal says he will retire.

"It's been a long haul," Neal says. "I've basically been working since I was 8, when I'd help my mom in the cotton and bean fields. I've been working a long time."

Neal has been divorced for more than 20 years and has two daughters, Nikkina, 35, and Janelle, 31.